Angel's Guardian
by Chris James
Summary: Six years ago, Ranma left Nerima to save Akane from himself. Now, after all this time away from her, he finds himself placed in a difficult situtation.


Disclaimer: Ranma, Akane and all their accompanying associates do not belong to me, but are copyright of Rumiko Takahashi and those to whom she has granted license. (It's always the way, everyone else gets better toys than me. Sigh.) I have no money, please do not sue. 

Angel's Guardian

By Chris James

christopherjim@mad.scientist.com

Chapter 1: Leavings, Longings, and Life's Little Suprises

People were yelling; cameras were flashing; actors and actresses, directors and producers were all putting on their best smiles as the night began at the film awards. The press lined the sides of the red carpet, calling out questions both relevant and inane to the stars who were being disgorged from the limousines that were constantly arriving. 

As the latest car pulled up to the curb, the volume of the crowd increased. The young woman who stepped onto the carpet was the talk of the entertainment industry. First making her mark on the film industry in an adaptation of a stage production she had been a playing in, she was propelled to stardom by her next role, a touching performance of a woman and her love, a soldier in the Second World War. Added to this was the rumour that she had been picked for the lead in the upcoming Hiro Nasagawa period drama, a part strongly sought after by many of Japan's leading ladies. Touted as the top contender for the award for Best New Actress, she was Akane Tendo; beautiful, charming, and oh so very alone.

---

All he could see before him was her face, angry and hurt. She shouted at him and he yelled back. She turned away to leave and he felt a small piece of himself die as he heard her parting words: "I never want to see you again!"

Explosions, anger, confusion, strange faces all around him. A horde of enemies attacked from all sides, Rage/fear that there might be enough to overwhelm him. Then, that long drawn out moment as he saw her knocked to the ground. His battle aura burned hotter than the sun and he burst through his opponents like they were made of rice-paper. Without thinking, he unleashed a hurricane of wind, hurling them away, leaving him alone with his unconscious fiancee.

Whiteness and pale shadows. He looked down at her body in the hospital bed, was told that she would wake up soon, that she would be all right. This time. He ran his hand through her hair, then placed an envelope in her hands. A painful, lingering moment as he looked on her for one last time. He would never hurt her again, would never bring down trouble on her precious head.

With a ragged gasp, Ranma Saotome shot upright, the last tendrils of sleep slowly falling off him. The nightmare again, that same damn nightmare again. With a sigh he rested his head in his hands. He wished it had just been a nightmare. Six years on the road still hadn't dimmed the pain of his leaving Nerima. He'd had to do it, it had been for her own good. Even if it meant never going back home. Even if he still thought of the Tendo house as home' and still thought of Akane as Akane. Her name still seemed to have something about it that set it apart from just about every other word he knew, something he hadn't been able to find anywhere since. He smacked his hand against his forehead. This line of thinking wasn't helping.

Throwing off his covers, he walked the mouth of the cave he'd been staying in for the last month. Really, the wandering's been good for me.' Ranma thought to himself. I've trained under grandmasters, grand abbots, blind ninjas and insane monks. I've fought men and monsters, I've won championships and saved lives. This is as good as I should expect.' Yes, he was content with his lot; and if he could just go a week without having to forcefully remind himself of the fact, well that would be even better.

-----

His current abode was situated in the side of a mountain, one which boasted a plentiful array of similar caves. He had here seeking peace, serenity and, failing that, somewhere to practice his more high-end moves without destroying too much property; and though this tended to result in flashes, explosions and brief windstorms, rumours about the mountain and its surrounding forest being haunted had been around for years. It had been haunted, but Ranma had managed to solve that problem without too much fuss.

Yes, the peace and solitude was what had made this place ideal for him. That was why he was surprised and more than a bit annoyed to see a large cargo helicopter setting itself down in a large clearing in the valley below.

It wouldn't take too long for him to make his way down there. Whoever they were, to be bringing heavy equipment all the way out here, they had to either rich or crazy. 

-----

"Does Nasagawa do things like this because he's rich or just crazy?" Griped the burly man as he strode down the ramp of the transport copter.

"Actually, doing things like this is why he's rich." Commented his off-sider, then sighed. "We're the ones who're crazy for signing on the this production. Getting an entire film crew out here into the wilderness; setting up and shooting the damn thing film; ensuring that we're not having a significant detrimental effect on the environment' and half the nearest locals not wanting to have anything to do with it since they claim the place is haunted. Jiro, the movie will be a box office smash, Nasagawa will again be proclaimed a genius, and we will be in therapy for months."

"It know that, Tetsu" replied Jiro Takani archly, "I just wish he could have found somewhere else to shoot the ruddy thing. We can get most of the small stuff in through the fire trail, but all the big gear needs to be flown in." With the sigh of a man much put upon he looked around what was being referred to as base camp'. A number of four-wheel-drive vehicles were already here, and there were score of people unloading and setting up. It was thinly disguised chaos, and he was the one meant to be managing it. "All this and the actors haven't even arrived yet."

-----

Over the following few days Ranma watched the film crew setting up with mild interest. Using the Umisenken, the art of the silent thief, he had been able to walk amongst them without anyone even suspecting he was there. He'd taken precautions to prevent anyone from entering his particular cave, kept an eye on where they seemed to be setting up to film, availed himself of the caterer's buffet, and throughout it all he found to experience to be both interesting and mildly disconcerting. Sure, the fake feudal period village that had been constructed was quite a sight, and it was kinda fun to see the beginning of a movie come into shape; but he was a martial artist, dammit, this was none of his concern. The whole thing was just holding back his training, he should just move on somewhere else. Which is what he would do. Tomorrow. The niggling awareness that this was the third time he'd made this decision was pushed to the back of his mind. He was strong; he wasn't just sticking around because he needed to be around people or anything, nothing of the kind. 

With an almost inaudible thud' he lay back on the roof of one the trucks. Spying a small passenger chopper coming down to land on the make-shift helipad, he made his decision. He'd grab his gear and stow away next time the helicopter left. Jumping down, he trotted over to see if there would be room enough inside or whether he'd need to hang from underneath. He was about a dozen metres away when the rotor blades stopped and the passengers began to disembark. Including one who the sight of stopped him in his tracks.

It was all Ranma could do to hold onto his invisibility. The rest of the world faded out of view. When he had last seen her, she had been a stunningly cute, seventeen year-old tomboy. Now she wasbeautiful, delightful, exquisite; all of these words fell far too short of being an adequate description. His heart stopped, his brain froze, and his lungs forgot whatever it was they were supposed to be doing. All of a sudden his mind was deluged by a flood of simultaneous thoughts. 

'Akane! / what is she doing here? / what am I doing here? / Akane! / sweet mercy, she's even more/ I have to get out of here! / I can't leave her again! / Akane! / she's like an angel/ I am in so much trouble.

---- 

Close Chapter One.

C & C are always welcome, pointless abuse is not, diagnoses of my pchycological state will treated on a case-by-case basis; send all of the above to christopherjim@mad.scientist.com. I have very little real knowledge of how movies are made, so if those who are in the know would please have pity on me when I'm somewhat inaccurate and let me know what's what, that would be greatly appreciated.

On the odd chance that anyone wants to archive this, please check with me first. Can't think why I'd be against it, but I'd prefer to asked. 


End file.
